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No parents should have to live with these fears and worries—that established systems of justice, health care, education, and opportunity may exclude and possibly even harm their children throughout their lives.
When I became a parent, I inherited a world of worries. I worry constantly about our sons—about all the hazards that can befall them on their way to becoming adults. So much to worry about, so much to keep me up at night: health crises, guns, drugs, sex, alcohol, cars, police encounters, bullies, violence, risk-taking, foolishness.
But, because our boys ...

May 8, 2020
Many of us are reluctant to rely on others for help, but everyone needs a team of supporters. If you’re feeling stressed or lonely and just need someone to chat with, we want you to know we’re right there with you.
Mental Health Colorado initiated In This Together to provide a little bit of social contact for you by phone. So if you’re struggling right now, complete this form and we’ll reach out to you as soon as possible just to talk!
And as always, if you do feel you need additional support, visit our resource page at ...

These are challenging times for nonprofits, as they are for many individuals and industries. But with your help, the pandemic won’t keep Mental Health Colorado from working toward a strong start for all of Colorado’s children, disentangling mental health and criminal justice, making sure all Coloradans can access affordable mental health or substance use care, and ending shame and discrimination.
Stepping forward together, we can be stronger and better than before and create healthier minds across the lifespan.
Today is Giving Tuesday Now, a new ...

Today, Mental Health Colorado is declaring May as Mental Health Month.
The pandemic has shaken everyone in the world and left us in unimagined circumstances. Together, we’ve put our entire system on hold for the purpose of saving lives. It’s a tribute to what we can accomplish when our mental health is strong. We’ve taken physical distancing and turned it into social solidarity. And that is a great triumph of a healthy mind.
We are excited to announce the 2020 Mental Health Month theme—Stepping Forward Together: Mental Health Matters. Please follow us on ...

I hope you are staying well in these difficult times.
I’m writing with the exciting news that The Equitas Project is now part of Mental Health Colorado.
Jails and prisons have become the largest mental health facilities in the U.S. It’s a painful intersection that The Equitas Project has worked to disentangle since its founding by the David and Laura Merage Foundation in 2013.
We share the Merage’s understanding that behaviors associated with poor mental health and addiction are mistaken for and treated as willful criminality. Rather than supporting ...

April 7, 2020
We asked. You answered.
What are you doing to keep your mental health in check?
“Great time to call distant family members and find out how your ancestors lived through trying times. Kids love to hear about who they are and what states/countries their people came from.” -Mary Ellen
“I’ve picked up my guitar for the first time in years. I’m fortunate to still have a job where I can work from home, so I’ve donated what I can and listed things I’m grateful for daily.” -Aubrey
“As a ‘person of ...

It’s an age-old classic of American folklore that grandparents used to get an eye roll from their children by saying things like: “You know, when I was your age I used to have to walk three miles to school, in the snow, barefoot!”
Every generation has trials to face and challenges to overcome. My grandmother used to say: “No one ever said that life was going to be easy.” As a kid, hearing about how your elders had to walk to school barefoot in the snow may not have seemed very helpful. But the point of the storytelling was to share the perspective and ...

March 23, 2020
Over the past few days, I’ve looked through some old books that present accounts of living through experiences that are somewhat comparable to what we’re all going through now.
What becomes apparent in stories—as well as in our own lived experience—is that in the context of a pandemic, our survival and wellbeing call for a very different kind of heroism. Rather than the traditional sort of hero, most of the heroes we need to defeat the pandemic are a kind of dream-team collective who stay inside, practice patience, provide support and ...

March 19, 2020
As we all know so well now, effective disease prevention demands that we stop gathering in crowds, that we work and study remotely, and that we create some health-preserving space between ourselves and others. The expectation is that physical distance will keep the virus from spreading so quickly.
So, physical distancing, yes please! But social distancing?
I don’t know why we all settled on that term so quickly, but social distancing is the exact opposite of what’s best for our mental health right now. What we need is social ...

We are in this together, and we are smart and strong.
Isn’t it hard to believe that just a week ago so few of us could have imagined how topsy-turvy so many things could get so fast?
And yet, here we all are—adjusting to dramatic changes, and facing uncertainty. Of course this is unsettling. Of course we find ourselves anxious, and find unexpected strain on our mental health. But we are in this together, and we are acting based on the best guidance of our health science for the purpose of saving lives. This is an opportunity for us to show how strong ...